Here’s a clip from Good Morning America in which other passengers on the plane describe the flight attendant kicking Kate Penland and her son, Garron, off a Continental ExpressJet flight to Oklahoma City.
The flight attendant’s motivation for removing the Mom and toddler is still not clear to us. Will this mystery ever end?
UPDATE: Video of the Kid Misbehaving On Good Morning America. Time to call Supernanny.
PREVIOUSLY: Mom And Toddler Kicked Off Continental Flight For Talking Too Much
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Not speaking to this child in particular, but it seems like the concept of the “inside voice” is one long forgotten.
@roche: That’s insufficient. I can hear dogs barking down in luggage. Imagine the ear-piercing screams of one of these brats. =P
@professorjonathan: I’m playing a violin while reading your comment, I just don’t have a webcam. In the case of this mother and child, it’s the parent (as usual) who is the animal. The kid was easily subdued by one of the people on the show, but the mother was content to let him scream out of control and be a whiny little shit. The kid doesn’t know better, because his slob of a mother doesn’t discipline him.
As for the broader issue, I have no problem with kids on my plane. However, if the parents are unable to control them (that means ZERO screaming, ZERO kicking!), then they need to be tranqed. The kids too.
Ah investigative journalism at its finest. No questions asked. No witnesses found. No effort whatsoever to get the story other then to interview the parent.
How about something as simple as how loud and for how long was your child crying? Maybe the flight attendent screwed up but so far are we have is the story of a parent that has a reason to sell her child as sweetness and light.
I imagine though that really what occured is a very loud baby in a very small area (magnifing the sound) was crying for quite a while (cause lets face it, borading and prepping for lift of is not a five minutes proces) causing multiple complaints and as a result the flight attendent took action.
Will we ever found out? Probably not, that takes effort and journalists nowadays only report the stories handed to them.
look it’s like this. if i paid 50 bucks for a bus ticket vs. 500 for a flight, a baby crying is different. if you paid 500 dollars vs. 50 for a meal, would you not expect a little more parenting from the patrons around you?
Investigative journalism at its finest. Where any questions actually asked beyond the parent? witnesses? Anything? Doesn’t seem like it.
All we have is the story from a parent that has motivation to sell her child as sweetness and light.
I bet what really happened is a loud crying baby (cause thats what they do), a parent that couldn’t figure out how to quiet them on the plane (it happens), and a flight attendent recieving lots of complaints about the loud noise (cause planes are smaller areas and the crying would be magnified).
Also keep in mind, the boarding process is not a five minute thing, so do we know exactly how long the crying went on? 1 minute? 5 minutes? 30 minutes? Was it occuring out in the waiting area and just carried over into the plane? We don’t know but that makes a huge difference on whether someone overstepped their bounds are not.
The parent has no reason to admit the truth (assuming she knows as parents tend to be oblivious of their own children’s behavior) but I gaurantee there is more to this story then just a mean flight attendent. Not that we will ever know because that requires effort and the media only reports what it is given now.
oops, duplicate, thought the first one didn’t post.
@meiran: What Clodia said.
@missdona: Amen.
@DJSYNDROME: I don’t even like kids that much, but if I witnessed that exchange, I’d be inclined to buy your kid a pony because that’s just awesome.
As for this situation, without the flight attendant’s side of the story I can’t even begin to make a judgment call as to who’s right and who’s wrong. I really want to know if anybody else on the flight complained about the kid prior to the flight attendant chastising the mother, how loud the boy was actually being and for how long, if the mother had at some point made some attempt to quiet him… there’s just too much information that is not here. Although I am looking forward to watching the GMA video when I get home, because the irony is just too perfect.
This is great news! Next time you are stuck on the tarmack held hostage for several hours, enlist a young kid to repeat a short phrase loudly over and over again until they take you back to the gate.
@Amy Alkon:
Quote: “Intolerant? I would say that describes the mother. She’s not going to shut her kids up so other can have “a pleasant flight”? Why not? Aren’t others entitled to a pleasant flight? Shouldn’t the burden be on the one who brings the child on – to either not fly with the child or to see that others don’t have an unpleasant flight because the child is there?”
I meant everyone, as in the baby-lovers and baby-haters. Almost no one has a middle ground on this thread. No one on either side seems willing to take responsibility for their own feelings and actions. Nearly everyone thinks that they are the center of everything. That’s narcissism.
The solution is easy: mind your own business. A talking baby is not your business. A snoring fat lady is not your business. If you feel like becoming annoyed or aggravated, be polite. Ask politely. The instant you think, “It’s not me, they should be polite…” you’re in the wrong.
No one is polite anymore.
@trai_dep: Who’s going to enforce that? The definition of public is of, concerning, or affecting the community or the people. Suddenly, having a child, parents cease to be people?
You obviously stayed home a lot when you were a child.
@3drage:Hyperbole can be very effective to illustrate a point, but that’s outta line. But if we’re playing that game, I heard Doc. Kevorkian is out of jail if you want to make an appointment. Being such an advocate of population control, you’ll be the first to volunteer?
@ArtDonovansDrunkenLovechild: I agree with you and don’t think you’re a child hater.
Ok, I’ll give the kid the Benadryl.
And a shot of whiskey.
Then a bong hit.
As a father of a 16 month old, I’ll say that I would gladly dose my daughter with some Benedryl for a cross country trip…if it had any effect on her. Benedryl’s not going to knock every kid out for a flight – like my daughter, a lot of them aren’t affected at all, and others get even more hyper and hopped up when dosed.
I’m glad that people in the real world are far more understanding and tolerant than half the posters on Consumerist are regarding kids. My daughter’s a fairly well behaved child for her age, and she still manages to make the occasional scene. Luckily for me, I tend to be more embarassed than other people are upset or annoyed when that sitution arises.
@Xerloq: “Who’s going to enforce…”
Whoa, talk about missing the point.
The parent, you ninny.
Else, yup, keep the lil’ terror at home.
I went out a great deal as a child. My friends, with children, go out a great deal. It’s awesome to see them trying to negotiate how to deal with this thing called the world, that we adults navigate so effortlessly (seemingly). They’re light and joy and a wonder to behold.
Because – and solely because – they (and I) was raised right. To behave. In the public sphere.
That you don’t get this fundamental rule makes me guess which kind if kid you were/have…
oops. change “was raised…” to “were raised…”.
@ArtDonovansDrunkenLovechild: “I can tolerate crying, its a natural act, but screaming, running around, ect. PArents should know how to handle that issue.”
So, crying = natural, screaming and running = unnatural? Now there’s a distinction I can work with. Just give me a minute while I go cripple my children so that they’re no longer perversions of nature.
“As for the breast feeding comment. I have no need to see that in public. If you want to do the subtle thing and cover it with a towel then Im all for it, but if you inist on pulling out a full breast then go to the ladies room.”
So, you’re telling them to suck it up; but why should their reply to you be any different? If you don’t like it, take your time machine back to Victorian England where you can live your dream of never seeing a woman’s tit again.
Obviously, the flight attendant interpreted the line, “Bye, bye plane,” as meaning, “I have a bomb and I’m gonna make this plane go bye-bye, bitch!”
@hallik:
I’m quite jealous of how you managed to go from birth straight to adulthood without stopping at all to be a child.
I hate to think of what happen if your dog has an accident in the house.
On a plane flight once I was in the cliche “nightmare” seat. A young child was directly behind me, kicking at my seat and saying “hey” repeatedly. Worse still, I (at the time) had no ipod, CD player, book, and far too young for alcohol. Yet, magically, two things happened. His mother made efforts — temporarily successful — to quell the child, and due to those windows my efforts at sleeping were successful, and I was fine.
If the parent is making an effort to quiet a child, then that’s really are there is to it. Children are of course different from adults. In my opinion, the adult parent is expected to make a genuine effort to quiet the child. No matter the results, that should be acceptable. Only in some very extreme circumstances which really shouldn’t come up (the baby is screaming at the resonant frequency of the turbines, for example) should the baby and parent be expelled.
All I know is this: I don’t care for flying, but sometimes I have to do it. I certainly don’t want to deal with whiney obnoxious kids while I do it. There is a reason I don’t have kids.
@Bon Jour, Pee Wee: LOL! Ditto!
I’m sorry but all you people advocating that mother, saying that we should shut up and ‘share the world’, just shove it. Okay? Parents today spoil the fuck out of their children, and they ignore them blatantly in public if they’re whining. I’ve worked retail for years, and I see it every. single. day of my life. Kid is crying, whining, going limp and having fits, and the mother is falling all over herself to console the kid with a positive reward. She’s giving into the childs behaviors, and that teaches the child that they can have whatever they want because Mommy will give it to them. Basicly, in phyhologial terms, thats a POSTITIVE REINFORCEMENT for NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR, which is entirely opposite of what should be going on in a good parent-child relationship.
On the other hand, when I was a kid (meaning, old enough to walk, so a toddler) If I acted up in public…which would include whining, having a fit, or just being loud and obnoxious, I would get spanked. If I was really bad, I would get whipped on the legs with a leather belt. Funny, I only remember being hit with a belt twice in my life.
WHY?
Beause obviously it worked.
If parents quit farting around and dicipline their kids like they should have done in the first place, then this wouldn’t be happening.
Hydrargyri -
Agree completely (tho parents ought to know, of all people, if their spawn is an ill-mannered, hellion boor and take appropriate, preventative steps).
Mom’s, “I’m not going to shut up my precious boy just so you can enjoy your flight” was the deal-breaker for me.
Just because there has been worse behavior allowed on some plane, at some time, doesn’t mean this little brat shouldn’t have been kicked off. If the flight attendant said the mother threatened her, when in fact the mother did not, that was sleazy. But, I think the fact that the kid was going to make another 100+ passengers miserable was sufficient grounds by itself to kick them off.
@5Cent: WTF is FRANCE have to do anything with a domestic flight?
I hate it when ppl want to swear but use some stupid substitute instead. If you sub a cuss with another non-cuss sounding word, you’re still cussing. So STFU!
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There are many kids who are quiet or very well behaved on planes. There are the occasional hecklers (children) who want to draw attention to themselves. No. They dont deserve to get kicked off a paid flight but the parent(s) sure needs to supervise them and make a VALID attempt to quiet them.
A kid dropped a rock on your car (regardless of any damage). Whadyu do? Walk away saying “it was just a child” or do you speak with the parent supervising the child? If the parent doesnt hold her child accountable and apologize, how would you feel?
Great advertising for Continental. Seriously, they looked after the majority of their customers.
The video on Good Morning America makes it very clear that the parent is the problem. You get what you raise.
‘Mom’s, “I’m not going to shut up my precious boy just so you can enjoy your flight” was the deal-breaker for me.’
Absolutely! Somebody should really take a look at whether or not this woman should even be allowed to raise a child. I’m glad she went on GMA and showed the world what a lousy parent she really is.
I love little kids. Whenever I’m sitting next to a child on a plane or train I always make conversation with them. They are SO excited to tell their stories to a young woman who’s willing to listen (I probably resemble their babysitter).
However, I actually agree that a lot of parents believe the world should accommodate their children, rather than teaching their children to behave appropriately in the world.
Unfortunately, those of us with brains between our ears can’t fix bad parenting, so here’s a tip for anyone in the unfortunate position of sitting next to an obnoxious brat–try to make conversation with them. Their conversation will be dull and might not even make sense, but it will distract them from their obnoxious behavior, and most kids’ attention spans are not long enough to return to the obnoxious behavior immediately after that. If you are lucky enough, the parent may even make an extra effort if the kid does start acting up again.
And if a very young child is crying, give the kid a break and try to imagine what you would do if you were in pain and lacked the ability to communicate. I think I’d probably just cry my eyes out too.
@Pelagius: I want to see it, but the video does not want to open for me. Maybe it doesn’t work on Macs. Anyone have a youtube version?
I would agree with the majority here in saying that I wouldn’t mind kids if parents would make REASONABLE efforts to control their kids in public. Kids are entitled to A FEW outburts or unruly acts, which is normal of every kid, however the kids that are unruly ALL THE TIME are the ones that I dislike, not the ones who are nice or the ones whom parents make an effort to discipline or control their kids. I certaintly don’t want to pull the kid out of being a kid here, kids should be allowed to be kids, which means a couple big tantrums in their life, we have all done it as a kid, even kids that were raised years and years before us have found things to have tantrums over. This is normal but having a huge tantrum several times a day is not. A baby crying is also normal, they usually stop within a short while. A nice kid is extremely different than an unruly brat, and as I have learned not every kid is an unruly brat. I have met some really fantastic children and have been in situations where I would expect kids to be unruly but they were not and were extremely well behaved instead. As for talking to the kid it won’t work if the kid is an unruly brat as they will just talk back to you or tell you to go away in a very loud and obnoxious tone.
Some parents seem to feel a sense of entitlement because they have a kid, this is what has brought on the many complaints of looking down on parents who have children or calling parents soccer moms that don’t know any better etc.. Its these parents that feel they should be treated specially just because they have a kid are the ones that are the problem. If these parents only know how much the general public looks down on them for what they are doing..
The negative reinforcement is another point, I learned in psychology that ANY child’s behavior can be corrected or tamed within normal, healthy children. This is called parenting, if you don’t want your kid doing something, there are ways to control it or change a behavior that you do not want them to do provided you work at it. There are multiple ways to seek advice on how to change certain behaviors nowadays, so there is no excuse other than lazy parenting. Child behavior and parenting is nothing new, fighting, screaming and whining have been going on for hundreds of years now, there are ways to tame or control it but apparently a lot of parents nowadays either don’t care or don’t realize there are ways to fix a child’s bad behavior.
But in a way society has brought this lack of parenting on itself, try spanking your kid in walmart or other store without having the 10-20 other parents around you picking up their cell phones and calling the police for a case of child abuse. Especially if you figure out that spanking is what your kid responds to and you need to do it in public. I don’t think there is anything wrong with a spanking as long as a spanking does not turn into a beating. Since parents are afraid someone will call the police on them if they spank their kid in public they are reluctant to do it even if they are a good parent that means well.
I wish people from that flight would come forward. Did the mom make an effort to calm/quiet the kid down? I HATE kids. Yes, I HATE them and I don’t feel bad saying that. That is my right. My husband and I feel a sense of dread if there is a child within 15 feet of us. Kids step on you, touch you, yell at you and when you look at the parent like “Hey, yeah, could you reel it in?” They glare at you like you’re Satan trying to steal their baby. I agree that something serious needs to happen with separating the brats from the norms. I am more understanding when I see a mom near tears because she can’t control her kid. You think there’s hope and she won’t fly again because the turd can’t behave. But when they put their own headphones in and pat the kid on the knee while it’s kicking your back during a 5 hour flight….ARGH!!!!
Kids on the plane are mad annoying, but then again, so are some adults. I HATE flying, so I’m always mentally prepared for the typical annoyances: crying/screaming babies, some guy next to me sneezing on my hand, some loser behind me kicking my seat for no apparent reason, someone making small talk about his/her extremely boring job. Out of the list, I think I can empathize with the babies the most; they seem to be vocalizing the same feelings I have. But I think what would piss me off more is having to go back to the gate so a kid and his mother can be escorted off the plane. This means I have to be on the plane longer than necessary. And that sucks. If we have to stop and go back to the gate, that kid had better be possessed or psychotic or something along those lines.
And by the way, if I was on TV when I was a kid, I would freak out. All those lights and expensive-looking things…
Unruly kids and clueless, inept, idiot parents think they are ENTITLED to make everyone else’s life around them Hell. No dice. That kid is clearly an annoying loud-mouth of a brat and I see where he gets it from: the mother! She’s a moron that laughs at her kid “throwing a royal tantrum” on another flight yet wonders why she and her little b**tard got kicked off the last flight? Please, spare me!
I applaud the stewardess that threw them off the plane. I hope more stewardesses do it, too! It’ll actually force parents to either do their job in controlling their kids or they get kicked off of planes. Tough cookies. Their rights end where everyone else’s begins!
I commute to work by train. It is a 3 hour ride each way. I’ve experienced my share of babies, children and adults behaving badly in the past few months.
I want to thank the parents who made the effort to keep their kids quiet by bringing some quiet toys, a book or some snacks. I’ve seen these parents really try to keep their kids quiet and sometimes it just doesn’t work. I know you can’t always keep a kid quiet; they’re energetic, they want to wander around, they don’t understand why they’re stuck on a train for hours. I’m fine with that.
If you have no sympathy with the parents and kids on your flight, try not popping your ears and see how painful it is. Remember you can’t explain to a 8 month old baby how to pop its ears.
The parents who are on their cell phone yammering while their kid screams … I’m less sympathetic. The parents who threaten their kids and then hit them resulting in the kid actually having a reason to scream … I’d like to smack the parents upside the head.
The worst are really the people who are yelling into cell phones or using the walkie-talkie function on their cell phones – you know, where it squacks and beeps every 20 seconds. I’d like to ram their cell phones down their throats. The drunk guys who ooze alcohol stench and have the strong possibility of puking unexpectedly are also fun. 15 year old female high school students on a school trip, also painful.
@axiomatic:
@mommyinkc:
well said.
To all the parents defending letting kids run around, yammering, kicking seats without consequences, and telling the rest of us to just accept your annoyances…let me bring my chihuahua on the plane for a few hours. He might poop on your shoe or make a stink…might pee in the floor, might lick you or yip at you for 2 hours. Might even bite your finger. Uh oh? You dont like it? Grow up!
I always love non-parents who seem to know exactly how a child should act in a given public place. The oft used phrase, “If it were my child…” followed by their wisdom.
However, it isn’t your child and you frankly don’t know the situation. For all you know, the child has some serious problem and is going to Chicago to be seen by the top medical professional in the country.
No one likes being stuck on a plane for hours on end. As adults we have learned to tolerate uncomfortable situations, how did we learn? As children, raised by parents who did the best that they could.
I am sure if you were to ask, everyone of your parents could tell you a story about how you acted like a class A brat in public.
Of all the comments I have read, the only constructive one made was to suggest “Family Coach” which is brilliant for flights to destinations like Orlando, FL or Washington, D.C. or anywhere else that is likely to have a large number of children on any given flight.
This is the same flight attendant who on a better day would have aimed her beverage cart for my knee cap – if I happened to have my leg just an inch out in the aisle.
No worries – either, as this gal has 40 years seniority and is likely that many pounds over her original hire weight.
I love the new America with our enabled flight nazis.